History of the Maldives
The history of the Maldives is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and surrounding areas in South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is formed of 26 natural atolls, comprising 1,194 islands.
The Maldives historically has held strategic importance due to its location on the major marine routes of the Indian Ocean. Its closest neighbours are the British Indian Ocean Territory, Sri Lanka, and India. The United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and some Indian kingdoms in the past have had deep cultural and economic ties with the Maldives for centuries. Maldivians also traded with Aceh and many other kingdoms in what is now Indonesia and Malaysia. The Maldives were a primary source of cowrie shells, which were then used as currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast.
The Maldives were influenced by the Kalingas of ancient India. The Kalingas were the earliest region of India to trade with Sri Lanka and the Maldives; thus, they were responsible for the spread of Buddhism. Stashes of Chinese crockery found buried in various locations in the Maldives also show that there was direct or indirect trade contact between China and the Maldives. In 1411 and 1430, the Chinese admiral Zheng He visited the Maldives; the Republic of China later became the first country to establish a resident embassy in Malé in 1966.
During the 16th century, when sea faring European colonial powers gained prominence in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives were contacted by the Portuguese the Dutch, and then the French. The Portuguese had occupied the country from 1558 to 1573.
The Maldives became a British protectorate in the 19th century. The Maldivian monarchy was granted a degree of self-governance while the British ruled over the country’s external affairs.
The Maldives gained independence from the British and became a republic on 26 July 1965. The British continued to operate an air base on the island of Gan in the southernmost atoll which it leased from the Maldivian government until 1976. The British departure in 1976, at the height of the Cold War, almost immediately triggered foreign speculation about the future of the air base. The Soviet Union requested the use of the base, but the Maldives refused.
The republic's greatest challenge in the early 1990s was the need for rapid economic development and modernisation given the country's limited resource base in fishing and tourism. Concern was also evident over a projected long-term sea level rise which would prove disastrous to the Maldives' low-lying coral islands.
Early Age
Much of the history of the Maldives is unknown. However, based on legend and actual data, it can be deduced that the islands have been inhabited for over 2,500 years according to an old folklore from the Maldives' southern atoll.During Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar I's rule in the 17th century, Allama Shihabuddine, of Meedhoo on Addu Atoll, wrote the book Kitab Fi al-Athari Midu al-Qadimiyyah in Arabic. The account is strikingly consistent with known South Asian history, referencing India's legendary Emperor Asoka. It also backs up excerpts found in old Maldivian records and the Loamaafaanu copper plates. Legends from the past, copper plate inscriptions, ancient engravings on coral-stone artefacts, and stories passed down through oral traditions have also helped flesh out the Maldives' history.
Compared to the southern islands, up to 800 kilometres away, the northern islands may have had a different migratory and settlement history.
The first settlers to the southern Maldives
A delegation from the Divi people sent gifts to the Roman Emperor Julian according to a fourth-century note published by Ammianus Marcellinus in 362 AD.The Redi and the Kunibee, from India's Maharashtra area, were among the later settlers. The people from northern India arrived in the Maldives roughly during the sixth to fifth centuries B.C.—three centuries before Emperor Asoka built his state in India. According to folklore, they were not native to India and had arrived from another country. Hinduism was also brought to the Maldives during this period.
Dheeva Maari
The Dheyvis found Suvadinmathi after their first settlement in Isdhuva in Isduvammathi according to Shihabuddine. These people gave the term "duva" to each island where they first lived and discovered. They went on to establish the.The first known monarch of the Dheevis
The kingdom of Adeetta Vansa was formed in Dheeva Maari by Sri Soorudasaruna Adeettiya. He was the first known monarch of the Dheyvis of Dheeva Maari. He had been the exiled prince of Kalinga kingdom before he founded the kingdom of Adeetta Vansa, and this founding preceded the creation of the kingdom of Malik Aashooq.Once, a group from Bairat came to Dheeva Mahal to preach the beliefs and works of Buddha.
The first settlers to the northern Maldives
Folklore indicates that northern atolls of the Maldives were populated by other tribes from southern India with darker skin colours. According to legends, the islands they populated were named Nolhivaram, Kuruhinnavaram, and Giravaram. These islands are now known as Nolhivaramu, Hinnavaru, and Giravaru.Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic, and cultural traditions and customs indicate that some of the earliest settlers to the northern Maldives were descendants of fishermen from the southwest coasts of present-day India and the northwestern shores of Sri Lanka. One such community is the Giraavaru people. They are mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore, specifically in regards to the establishment and kingly rule of the capital, Malé.
Some argue, from the presence of Jat Gujjar titles and Gotra names, that the Sindhis also accounted for an early influx of migration. Seafaring from Debal began during the Indus Valley civilisation, and the Jatakas and Puranas show abundant evidence of their maritime trade; the use of similar traditional boatbuilding techniques in Northwestern South Asia and the Maldives, as well as the presence of silver punch mark coins from both regions, lends additional weight to this view. Additionally, there are hints that Southeast Asian settlers ended up in Madagascar after getting separated from a main group of Austronesian reed boat seafarers.
Kingdom of Adeetta Vansa
The Kingdom of Adeetta Vansa, formed in Dheeva Maari, ruled until the establishment of the Kingdom of Soma Vansa. Soma Vansa was born in Kalinja; Adeetta Vansa was born in Kalinja as well. The Kingdom of Soma Vansa was founded by the son of a Soma Vansa monarch who ruled in Kalinja at the time. Dheeva Maari turned to Islam over a century and a half later.Kingdom of Soma Vansa
At the start of the Soma Vansa dynasty, the Indian ruler Raja Dada invaded Dheeva Maari's northern two atolls, Malikatholhu and Thiladunmathi, and took control of them. Sri Loakaabarana, Sri Maha Sandura, Sri Bovana Aananda, as well as his son and brother, were the most recent five monarchs of Soma Vansa before the advent of Islam. After Sri Maha Sandura died, Raja Dada ascended to the crown.Mahapansa
Sri Maha Sandura's daughter, Kamanhaar, and Rehendihaar were exiled to the island of Is Midu. With her, she took Maapanansa, a book that contained the history of Adeetta Vansa's kings. In his work, Al Muhaddith Hasan claims to have read the entire Maapanansa, which was written on copper. He also claims to have buried all of MaapanansaAncient names of atolls of Maldives according to ''Maapanansa''
- Thiladunmathi
- Miladunmaduva
- Maalhosmaduva
- Faadu Bur
- Mahal Atholhu
- Ari Adhe Atholhu
- Felide Atholhu
- Mulakatholhu
- Nilande Atholhu
- Kolhumaduva
- Isaddunmathi
- Suvadinmathi
Archaeological remains of the first settlers
Earliest written history
The earliest written history of the Maldives is marked by the arrival of Sinhalese people. They were descendants of the exiled Vanga Prince Vijaya from the ancient city known as Sinhapura in northeast India. He and his party of several hundred landed in Sri Lanka; some ended up in the Maldives circa 543–483 B.C. According to the Maapanansa, one of the ships that sailed with Prince Vijaya, who went to Sri Lanka around 500 B.C., went adrift and arrived at an island called Mahiladvipika, which has since been identified as the Maldives. It is also said that at that time, the people from Mahiladvipika used to travel to Sri Lanka.The Sinhalese settlement in Sri Lanka and the Maldives marks a significant change in demographics and the development of the Indo-Aryan language Dhivehi, which is most similar in grammar, phonology, and structure to Sinhala and especially to the more ancient Elu Prakrit, with has less Pali influences.
Alternatively, it is believed that Vijaya and his clan came from western India. This claim has been supported by linguistic and cultural features, as well as specific descriptions in the epics themselves, e.g. the detail that Vijaya visited Bharukaccha in his ship on a southward voyage.
Philostorgius, a Greek historian of late antiquity, wrote of a hostage among the Romans who hailed from the island called Diva, which is presumed to be the Maldives; his name was Theophilus. Theophilus was sent around the year 350 to convert the Himyarites to Christianity and went to his homeland from Arabia; he returned to Arabia, visited Axum, and settled in Antioch.